


Let's Roll Our Sleeves Up and Start Again

by Snacktivist



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: AND THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED!, Basically an eye rolling marathon, F/F, Feelings, Fluff, Light Angst, Stranded
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 13:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18661525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snacktivist/pseuds/Snacktivist
Summary: A mission goes wrong and Charlie and Zari find themselves stranded in time. Suddenly, instead of a time ship, their home is a small room in a mediocre hotel, and the biggest adventure they can go on is spending time together. For two time traveling superheroes, staying put (especially together) is a real challenge, but they try their best.Or, What happens when you have all the time in the world on your hands and there's a person you have feelings for next to you?





	Let's Roll Our Sleeves Up and Start Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FloDuCap](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloDuCap/gifts).



> This fic was Flo's idea and it is for her (I wouldn't even finish the first chapter without her). If you wanna listen to something while reading, Let's Hurt Tonight and Start Again by One Republic, Oceans by Seafret, Renegades by X Ambassadors, and Ocean Drive by Duke Dumont are all great ^^

_ Can't I just turn back the clock? _

_ Forgive my sins  _

_I just wanna roll my sleeves up _

_And start again _

_ I know that I messed it up _

_ Time and time again _

_I just wanna roll my sleeves up _

_ And start again  _

_ (OneRepublic, Start Again) _

 

* * *

 

“You’re joking.”

“You gotta’ be kidding me.”

The two women were both staring at an object right in front of them. It was square shaped, surprisingly tall, and very individual.

“This has to be a joke.”

There was definitely no other object like this one in the room. And there didn’t really need to be any other, because this one was large enough.

“I cannot believe that there is only one bed. I’m not even- I’m not- I can’t. No.” Zari shook her head, took a step back and after a few seconds of waving her arms about trying to come up with a meaningful utterance, she turned around and headed towards the door.

Charlie, on the other hand, seemed to be finding the situation quite amusing as she hopped on the bed, laid down on her back and propped her feet up on the pillow. “Z, you can sleep on the floor if you’re uncomfortable, I’m fine with that.”

The smirk on her face almost made Zari want to air-punch her perfect teeth in when she turned back around to face her. “Did you seriously just put your boots on the pillow?”

Charlie lifted her head to look at her feet as if she needed to check to be able to answer the rhetorical question. “Looks like it.”

Zari shook her head and turned towards the door yet again. “I’m going to ask them for another room.”

“There was no other room,” Charlie interrupted her and got off the bed to be able to properly look at her. “And come on, it’s not that bad, the bed is big enough for the both of us, you don’t have to sleep on the floor, I was just joking.”

“No, I am _going_ to sleep on the floor.”

“So, you’re not going to ask for a different room then?”

“Like you said, there’s no point.”

As soon as she said that, Charlie smiled excitedly and waved her fist in the air in a gesture of victory that Zari chose not to react to.

 

They were supposed to do a simple recon mission, and they did, but then things went wrong, and they had to run, and Zari made the mistake of letting Charlie have her time courier. And Charlie, being her chaotic self, opened a portal not to the Waverider, but to a random place just so that they would have somewhere to run. And run they did – through a portal and on to a busy road where the time courier got dropped and crushed by wheels of a car that they managed to jump away from just in time. Because of course that would happen. Really, if Zari expected it to go easy, that was on her. And now she was in 2003 France, in a small store two blocks away from the motel where they decided to spend the night, looking for a toothbrush, toothpaste, and food that she didn’t have cash for. But they needed to eat and she didn’t want her breath to smell bad just in case Charlie got too close in bed. For platonic reasons.

After they got stranded here, they waited by the road for a few hours in case the Legends decided to show up and rescue them, after that they decided that they were indeed stranded and agreed that it might be smart to try and find a place to spend the night, and the motel was right there. They didn’t have money, because that would make it too easy, but cash wasn’t necessary, Zari made virtual transactions work almost effortlessly. Okay, with a little bit of effort, because what kind of an outdated operating system was that? Oh, that’s right, a 2003 one. If at least they got stranded somewhere with actual technology.

Lost in thought, she accidentally brushed shoulders with a man who, she hadn’t realised, was standing very close to her. When she looked at him, he quickly apologised, smiled, and it seemed like he was getting ready to start chatting her up, which was definitely not what she was there for, so she faked a smile – poorly, turned on the heel and walked away. Then she saw what she came here for, so she grabbed a pair of toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste and put them inside her jacket after she turned around a corner of the aisle. She also grabbed some snacks and was able to walk out of there unnoticed, which made this little mission of hers the one thing that went easy and she was grateful for that. She expected more trouble, though, because she had asked Charlie to stay put in their motel room and she was fairly certain that was the one thing Charlie was not going to do.

 

A short walk away, Charlie was lying on the bed, bored out of her mind. She had already taken her boots off and was now lying down with her head on the pillow, not her feet. She had also taken a shower and now had her body wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe. She would have been comfortable, had her whole body not been itching because of how _bored_ she was. She’d love to listen to some music, but there was no way to do that, at least none that wouldn’t require her to leave the room. There wasn’t even television, they only got the two lousy bathrobes. They did smell quite nice, though. And it wasn’t her fault that the time courier got smashed, right? She only dropped it because Zari all of a sudden tried to take it away from her and shoved her and because she was distracted by Zari blaming her for sending them into a random time period instead of the Waverider, while the only thing Charlie was trying to do was just get them anywhere else before they get stabbed by a bloke with a spear. She didn’t know how the bloody thing works! She did her best. But now they were stuck in a room with only one bed, and heaven knows Zari wouldn’t handle that well, not that Charlie loved it, and Zari was stressed because they were stuck and had no idea how long it would take the Legends to come and get them. Charlie didn’t really think it was that big of a problem, they would manage, they always manage. But she could tell Zari didn’t share her attitude from the ever-present frown on her face and the tense way she’s been carrying herself since the moment they saw the time courier was broken beyond repair.

Now she had nothing to do but lay on the bed, stare at the ceiling and slowly sink into insanity. Did she think about leaving to go have fun? God yes. But she didn’t want to make it even harder for Zari, and she didn’t want to disappoint her again either. So now that Zari asked her to stay put, she was determined to stay put.

There was a couple arguing in the hallway and she sat up and looked towards the door, took a deep breath and propped herself on her arms to get off the bed and... She laid back down. She would stay put.

To her relief, Zari walked through the door only a minute later, threw all the things she brought on the bed, took off her jacket and threw it there as well. Charlie sat up again excitedly and reached out to grab a bag of crisps.

“Take anything you want.” Right after Zari said it, she paused, tilted her head to the side and frowned slightly, surprised by seeing Charlie at the very same place where she left her about 30 minutes ago.

“What?”

“Nothing. Eat.”

Charlie shrugged, opened the small plastic bag she was holding, took a crisp, examined it and put it in her mouth. She noticed that Zari was still staring at her, which made her repeat, “What?”

“Nothing.” This time Zari shook her head, averted her gaze and left to take a shower.

Charlie was left alone again, but now she didn’t mind, because at least eating gave her something to do. She would still kill for some good music, though. Or maybe some card games. Or, preferably, both. Now that Zari was here, maybe they could do something fun. But then again, it was getting late and Zari would probably want to go to sleep soon, Charlie knew that she generally went to bed earlier than her. Charlie liked to stay up late. She never planned to, it sort of happened. But now they would probably have to turn off the lights and everything, and she would probably have to take care to be quiet, so she might as well try to sleep as well. Not yet, just when Zari feels like it. Maybe, if they’re lucky, the team will wake them up during the night and take them on the ship. If not, she can survive one night at this place, they both can.

When she was done with the crisps, she took a pen that was on the nightstand and decided to draw a little guitar on her ankle. She got so absorbed in the task that she didn’t notice Zari was back until the woman spoke to her.

“You know the pen was lying on a newspaper, that is literal paper that you can draw on, right?”

“Yeah. Just thought I’d give myself a tattoo.”

“A tattoo in blue pen ink?”

“Yeah.”

Zari rolled her eyes at her and Charlie rolled hers in return, then Zari adjusted hems of the bathrobe on her chest to cover her skin better and sat down, in the corner of the bed. “Do you _ever_ do anything that’s not destructive?”

There it was, the blame was back again. Charlie breathed out through her nose and stopped drawing. “Do you _ever_ say anything that’s not judgemental?” she returned, mimicking Zari’s tone of speech.

“Not when people deserve the judgement.”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything to you.”

Zari grabbed a bag of pretzels that was still lying on the bed, opened it and started eating. “Not in the last ten minutes you didn’t,” she said with her mouth full.

Charlie opened her mouth and stared at her like that for a few seconds, then shook her head angrily and got up. “It’s not my fault that we’re here, Zari.”

Zari immediately stopped chewing, as if Charlie’s voice punched her, looked up, swallowed, and replied only afterwards. “Whose fault is it then?”

“I don’t know! The bloke’s with the spear, the one that was chasing us?!”

“Oh yeah, I forgot I gave _him_ the time courier.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have given it to me then!”

Zari laughed dryly. “Don’t worry, I won’t make the mistake of trusting you again.”

Charlie’s eyes widened for a moment, then she pursed her lips and her eyes slid towards her feet, which uncomfortably shifted on the floor. In that moment, she decided to leave the room and that was exactly what she did.

Because this wasn’t fair. She was _trying_. She really was doing the best thing she could when she was opening the portal, they didn’t have any time to come up with anything better, and even if they did, what would have they done? Stand really tall trying to look scary? Besides, she didn’t like it either. She was stuck here too, it’s not like Zari was the only person allowed to be angry at this whole situation. She was stuck here too. In 2003, in a weird motel with a weird bloke smelling of cigarettes and booze living in the room next to theirs. Next to their room with only one bed. That they now have to share. And if they don’t, that means Zari’s sleeping on the floor and that would make Charlie feel bad, except... It won’t. Because if Zari wants to be stubborn and sleep on the floor, she can definitely do it. At least that way, if Charlie wakes up in the middle of the night, she won’t have to look at her angry face. Nobody needs to see that. She stopped when she got to the end of the hallway. There was a window and she looked out of it, but didn’t see anything interesting, only a car park, so she looked away and then leaned against the wall. It was a stupid situation. She bit her lip, then she remembered she was standing there in the fluffy white bathrobe only and adjusted it to cover herself up, which she didn’t care to do before, when she was in their room. She breathed out. It really was a stupid situation. They didn’t have to make it worse with fighting. Then again, it’s not like it was her who started it.

 

Meanwhile, Zari was still in their room, eating pretzels for dinner. Maybe she was being too harsh. Right after Charlie ran out, she wanted to go after her, but she’d have to put clothes on to do that and she didn’t feel like that. She was still a little upset with her. Not much, just... This wasn’t an easy situation and she wished Charlie wouldn’t try to make it harder by being... Charlie. She was already uncomfortable enough having to be there in only a bathrobe. She did consider putting her clothes back on after her shower, but who knows for how long they are going to be stuck here, so she concluded it would be better to keep them as fresh as possible. Not that they were fresh at this point, but they were reusable. She needed to keep them as _reusable_ as possible then. Being stuck in a 2003 France sucked but being stuck in a 2003 France in smelly clothes would suck worse. Which meant putting on a bathrobe, and sleeping in it, too. On a cold, hard floor. For quite a few nights, possibly, because they might be stuck here for a while. All it takes is for the Legends to get the date a little off when they finally figure out where they are, it wouldn’t be the first time it happened. She didn’t want to tell Charlie that, because why burden her with the idea, when it is possible, even if unlikely, that they are rescued in a few hours.

She ate the last pretzel and sighed. This was going to be a long night.

The thin blue pen forgotten on the pillow caught her attention and made Zari ashamedly bow her head. It was kind of sweet what Charlie was doing, childish, but in a cute way. But it was silly, and Zari was tense so she couldn’t help but make that comment. A part of her regretted it, the other part couldn’t be bothered with considering the pride of someone who got them stranded in 2003. But then, regardless of the latter, she took the pen, leaned towards one of the two nightstands and the newspaper on it, and drew a small smiley face in one of its corners. Then she put the pen down next to it.

 

Charlie decided to stay out of the room for a while longer. She wanted to do something fun but had no idea what fun you could do in a small town in 2003 France, so in the end she chose to knock on the door of the cigarette and booze smelling man living in the room next to them. It turned out he was lovely and was staying there with his wife, who was equally lovely, if a little loud, but Charlie rarely minded someone being loud. They laughed and played cards, drank alcohol and laughed some more. After a few hours Charlie started to laugh a little less loud, because maybe Zari was already trying to sleep in the room next to them. It wasn’t that she cared much about whether Z gets to sleep or not, it just seemed like the decent thing to do. For a teammate.

The couple she was with was in their fifties and, as Charlie found out after a few bottles of beer, used to be in a punk rock band. And so it happened that at three in the morning, Charlie found herself in the middle of an empty road, in a white motel bathrobe and with her sight a bit blurry, singing muddled lyrics to random songs at the top of her lungs with two strangers.

When three o’clock was nearing, her companions went back to the motel, but she didn’t feel like doing that just yet, and instead chose to take a short walk. Her short walk became a little longer when she forgot how to get back, and so when she finally managed to return, it was already four in the morning and she was almost sober again. She found Zari sound asleep on the floor, just like she had promised. She was lying on a bed sheet, had her pillow on the floor with her and her hair spread all over it, and was covered by a small blanket that Charlie had no idea how she got hold of, but Zari was resourceful, that much she knew about her. Her lips were slightly parted, and she seemed to be breathing so peacefully that Charlie unknowingly smiled. Light from the street lamps coming in through the window meant she wouldn’t accidentally step on Zari’s feet. And also that she was able to look at her, which she did, before she threw herself on the bed and closed her eyes, almost ready to fall asleep, except something was amiss.

She moved towards the other side of the bed and stuck her head out over its edge to look at the other woman again.

“Zari,” she whispered, just drunk enough to be brave.

No answer.

“Z!” she breathed out loudly enough for it not to be considered whispering any more, even though it could be said she tried to be silent.

Zari stirred, turned over to lie on her side and slid the wrist with her totem under her cheek.

Charlie rolled her eyes, cursed internally and repeated the name once again, “Z, wake up!”

Zari finally groaned, “I _am_ awake.”

This made Charlie pause to think for a few seconds, as she only now realised that she hadn’t previously considered any further course of action in case she did manage to wake her up. Then she spoke up again, not bothering to lower her voice anymore, “Come to the bed, Z.”

This made Zari open her eyes, turn towards Charlie, and pull her brows together in a frown. “What?”

“Come up here, it can’t be comfortable down there. You can’t sleep well on the floor.”

Zari just glared at her.

“I’m being serious, come here.”

“You noticed I was sleeping before you _woke_ me up, right...”

Charlie’s eyes narrowed. She hadn’t considered that.

But Zari sighed, sat up and threw her pillow on the bed. “What the hell.”

Charlie watched her as she got on the bed and fluffed up the pillow before she laid her head down on it. And she couldn’t help it but reach out, grab a hem of the fabric that Zari was covered with and gently pull it upwards, towards Zari’s neck, so that she wouldn’t be able to see anything she wasn’t supposed to.

Zari froze at the sight of the hand so close to her skin, then quickly adjusted the fabric herself and while doing that, she unintentionally hit the arm Charlie was already pulling away. The touch made them both pull away quicker and Zari turned her back to her companion.

Charlie clenched her hand in a fist and rested her head on it.

Zari clutched hers close to her chest as she breathed out.

How funny feelings are, hidden deep within you until you show them to the world. And thus, neither of them knew anything about just how aware the other was of their brief touch.

 

The next morning Zari wasn’t there when Charlie woke up, and Charlie didn’t mind before she remembered what she did last night, which made her start wondering whether Zari left early because she was angry with her again. It was such a silly thing that it wouldn’t make sense for any feelings to be hurt, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t need to know Zari too well to notice she liked her own space, and maybe she violated that. After all, Zari did turn her back towards her, maybe she was letting her know that she crossed a line. Charlie was going to respect that line from now on. That should be easy. It’s not like she expected anything else to happen anyway. It’s definitely not like she got carried away for a moment and got excited about their one bed only situation because she had the idea that maybe something was going to happen. Sure, Zari was cute, she noticed that Zari was cute, but that doesn’t mean they had to sleep together or anything. Charlie had plenty of other people to sleep with. And besides, for two people to sleep together, both of them have to know that they consider each other cute, and she would probably have to hit Zari over the head with something for her to realise she was into her. Not that she was into her, this was all just hypothetical. Okay, she was into her, but not that much. Just objectively. Because Zari was objectively fit. Even the Hindu god of love noticed, so naturally Charlie noticed too, duh.

When she sat up and looked at the nightstand next to her side of the bed, she noticed the little blue smiley face in the corner of the newspaper that was still lying there. She paused, then smiled, her eyes lit up.

Everything was good.

 

Zari was sitting in the canteen, in a corner at one of the many tables there, having a croissant for breakfast. As Charlie was approaching, she lifted her head shortly to look at her, but wasn’t bothered enough to stop eating.

“I thought I might find you here,” Charlie said with a bright smile on her face as she was sitting down.

“Yeah, being where the food is is kinda’ my thing.”

“So we can have breakfast here, then?”

“Yeah, take whatever you want, it’s all paid for.”

“Is it?”

“Sure.”

Charlie got up again and headed towards the buffet, where she took a little of each until her plate was overfilled, and then headed back to sit across the table from Zari.

“You’re going to eat all of that?”

“Go big or go home, as they say. It’s all free.”

“We have free food on the Waverider, too.”

“Yeah, but this isn’t supposed to be free.”

“And that makes it somehow better?”

Charlie quickly nodded and Zari rolled her eyes and couldn’t help but smile. Charlie saw that smile, took it in, and then smiled herself, confidently. It was almost a smirk, in fact, and she breathed in the smell of fresh pastries with the feeling that everything was okay. She watched Zari take another bite and momentarily locked her eyes on the thin strands of hair that were framing her face, those few strands that fell loose from the sloppy bun and were making her look so sweet in the morning light.

“What?”

“You got crumbs on your t-shirt, Z.”

As Zari looked down ready to brush off the crumbs that weren’t there, Charlie lowered her gaze and rubbed her lips together to hold back a smug grin. Then, when Zari looked up again, she just said, “Must’ve fallen off already.”

Zari rolled her eyes again but still seemed amused, and Charlie used her apparent good mood to get away with gently touching her leg under the table. “How’s your breakfast, is it good?”

Zari didn’t pull her leg away, she only stopped chewing for a second and lifted her gaze to look into her eyes. In Charlie’s mind, however, the only reaction she gave her was a shrug before her attention reverted to the food, so Charlie decided to dig in too. With her sight fixed on Zari.

 

They were having breakfast in silence for a few minutes before Charlie spoke again, “Any idea when the team is coming?”

The answer was a head shake.

“They have a time machine, so they are probably going to show up very soon, right?”

Zari nodded and stuffed the rest of her croissant in her mouth, then she smiled as she was trying to chew. She wasn’t the worst liar, she was able to lie her way out of any situation when necessary and preferably when nobody close to her was involved. In situations like these, on the other hand, she sucked.

“You okay, Z?” Charlie leaned across the table towards her and seemed concerned.

Zari, in turn, leaned far back to maintain the gap between them.

And before she could answer, Charlie sat back again and spoke herself. “What’s up with you?”

“What?”

“Sometimes it’s like you hate human contact.”

Zari paused, then narrowed her eyes. “I don’t, I just like my personal space.”

And Charlie sneered and replied curtly, “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

That remark changed Zari’s expression, her gaze grew cold, then her eyes slid to the plate with her unfinished breakfast and weren’t going to leave it until she was about to leave the room.

Charlie didn’t mean to say that. It just slipped out, as it happens when you’re as impulsive as she is. And because it was impossible to take back now, they finished their meals in silence.

 

After the breakfast and when Charlie was still eating, Zari decided to take a walk to clear her head. She didn’t say anything to Charlie, because, frankly, Charlie didn’t bother to tell her anything yesterday either to keep her from worrying when she was out doing who knows what, therefore Zari did not owe her any such favours.

She tugged her camo jacket close to her chest and folded her arms. She was close to being done with her, with all of her fleeting touches, flirty pouts and sideway glances. With her fingers almost touching the delicate skin over her collarbone. She refused to believe that Charlie didn’t know what she was doing, what feelings she caused to be stirring in her chest. And now she had the nerve to comment on Zari wanting her personal space? They shared a bed together! And how aware she was of those pathetic few inches of air between them! If anything, she _deserved_ her space now. Really, she only wanted to have breakfast in peace after that night. She was glad that Charlie got home – no, not home, this had nothing to do with home, was she really thinking of that stupid motel room with one bed as of their home? Anyway, she was glad that Charlie got back to the motel okay. That nothing killed her and, hopefully, she didn’t kill anything herself. But still, Charlie could’ve said something to her before she left. Sure, they had a small fight, but-

She stopped, ran her fingers through her hair to move it away from her face when the wind rose, looked around. She must’ve walked far enough. But Charlie wasn’t going to be worried, that would be unlike her. Worrying was Zari’s domain. Worrying about the stupid B-team, the whole history, her family-

She took a deep breath and crossed over the road to the other side, just to give herself something to do.

Screw Charlie.

Not in that way, just-

Screw her in whichever way would be unpleasant to her.

Great, now she was thinking about screwing Charlie.

If their team could hurry up and rescue them before she loses her personal space for real, that would be great.

Okay, now her thoughts were getting irritating.

She stepped from the sidewalk to a patch of grass next to it, sighed and then sat down, next to the daisies that grew on it.

 

A few hours passed and Charlie was growing restless. She kept biting and licking her lips under the most unfortunate circumstances, like when she was standing in front of the motel and a man was passing by staring at her. Or when that happened again. She kept feeling pressure on her ribs, or inside them, pulling them together from the inside. Or as if there was a fist in her chest clutching her heart. She couldn’t describe it properly, but it was there, and it wouldn’t leave.

She was worried.

Because Zari has been gone for hours and it was Charlie who made her leave.

Because if something happened to her, it was on her.

Because if the team finds out they will kick her out.

And because all she wanted at the moment was to spend one more careless night there, in that ugly old motel, with Zari next to her in bed.

But Zari wasn’t coming.

Why did she had to go and say that? All she had to do was _not_ say it. She had no place in commenting on whichever of Zari’s preferences like that. She had obviously touched a soft spot and she didn’t mean to. They were friends now and she wanted to keep it that way. At least. Now she wanted to fix it, but she wouldn’t have the chance to fix it if Zari got hurt. But if she didn’t, if she’s okay, maybe just taking a walk or snacking on doughnuts or whatever, then maybe-

Charlie smiled to herself, breathed in through her nose, turned around and walked back inside the motel. Then she rolled her eyes, laughed, and walked out again, because for a short moment she got too excited about her idea to remember where she was going. Her second attempt led her out of the parking lot of the motel and onto a sidewalk, where she randomly chose to go to the left to look for a particular shop. She had never been here before, but there was bound to be a bakery somewhere, right?

 

* * *

_ I'ma get it right now, don't know how _

_ But I promise that we're gonna make it somehow _

_ I'm all in, it's from the heart again  _

_ Open up your mind and maybe we could start again  _

_ (OneRepublic, Start Again)  _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and let me know what you think! Also stay tuned for the next chapter, things are going to get intense.  
> (There will probably be 2 or 3 chapters of this nonsense)


End file.
